When "La fanciulla del West" ("The Girl of the Golden West") premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1910, Giacomo Puccini considered it his greatest achievement — and he had already written what would become his three most popular scores, "La Bohème," "Tosca," and "Madama Butterfly."

Today, critics are inclined to agree with the composer's assessment of his work, yet the opera — notable for its setting in the American West (it was commissioned by the Met) — still lags behind the "big three" in popularity and frequency of performance.

Not only are the three leads extremely demanding, but the requirements for the supporting ensemble and chorus are more extensive than in other Puccini operas. The titular heroine Minnie requires great stamina. The sheriff and antagonist Jack Rance is one of Puccini's larger baritone roles. And the outlaw hero Dick Johnson is a lyric tenor along the lines of "Bohème's" Rodolofo or "Tosca's" Cavaradossi.

Jonathan Burton, who sang Cavaradossi at Central City's "Tosca" this summer, will perform the role of Johnson in Denver. Pelto said that he has done that role four previous times. Soprano Melissa Citro and baritone Mark Rucker make their debuts as Minnie and Rance.

Of Citro, Pelto said that she is known as a Wagner soprano who also sings the large Mozart roles, and would be natural for the unusually challenging role of Minnie. Rucker, a seasoned veteran, brings a dark, colorful voice needed for Rance.

As for the chorus of miners, Pelto contrasted it with the block-style choruses seen in "Tosca" or Verdi's "Aida." Each of them is an individual personality with a backstory.

"They need to be seen as individual characters while singing tricky music," Pelto said.

Pelto also spoke effusively about Puccini's orchestration for "La fanciulla," calling him "one of the greatest orchestrators," but said that it is unusually difficult and requires a first-rate orchestra.

Fortuitously, the performance will be the debut of the officially constituted Opera Colorado Orchestra, with musicians contracted long-term as part of an organization rather than being engaged on a temporary basis. The musicians will retain other positions in Front Range orchestras, but the new status of the orchestra matters a great deal, Pelto said.

"You need an identity as an orchestra to tackle a score like this one," he said.

While "La fanciulla" has important arias, they are not showstoppers like the ones in the "big three," Pelto said, which is another thing hindering the opera's popularity. One big tune did provide Andrew Lloyd Webber with a source for the signature song "Music of the Night" in "The Phantom of the Opera." The musical composer settled with the Puccini estate, and pays royalties every time "Phantom" is performed.

Cincinnati-based director Emma Griffin also makes her debut with Opera Colorado in Saturday's show. Griffin spent 25 years in New York City directing plays, musicals and operas before taking a position as professor of opera stage direction at the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music.

Griffin said that directing opera is satisfying because of the "edifice of music" that already exists for the narrative structure.

"My job is to make the audience hear the music in the best way possible, to reveal it to them through the narrative, and that is extremely satisfying," she said.

Of "La fanciulla," Griffin said that it was almost shockingly ahead of its time.

"It was the first spaghetti western," she said, making reference to the genre of European, largely Italian films depicting the American West. "Unlike most operas, it almost moves in real time. It is a play set to music whose beauty boggles the mind."

"La fanciulla" is based on a play by the American author David Belasco, the same writer who provided the source for "Madama Butterfly."

"It doesn't even function in the same way as other Puccini operas," Griffin continued, saying that the tension and narrative drive is purely cinematic, providing a template for the spaghetti western genre.

The heroine Minnie is also markedly different from other Puccini women. She is an independent business owner and the self-driving motivator of the romance. "She takes care of Johnson when he's hurt, makes all the crucial decisions, and saves the day at the end," Griffin said.

And, perhaps most notably, she does not die.

"I'm impressed with the caliber of Opera Colorado," Griffin said. "I hope that Denver and local audiences know what a great group of people this company has brought together."

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